DigiFAB

Here lies the beginnings of an individual looking to provide a glimpse into the early stages of the home manufacturing movement. Come and see me experiment with the latest in the DIY personal digital fabrication world.

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Friday, October 28, 2011

As quickly as I left home, I'm now back! New opportunities to be had back on the east coast, so I up and left CO for familiar territory!

Enroute back east from Colorado, I made a series of pit-stops. Among those stops I got to swing by and check out the RepRap powerhouse of a company, Ultimachine, located in South Pittsburg, TN.

Thanks goes out to Johnny Russell and Brit for housing a wayward Reprapper such as myself. Great operation you guys got going on down there and I can now visualize the operations that go under way every time I place an order! (I guess I should've taken pictures... :( )

So in the meantime, plotting for the next RRWT. Do you (and at least 5 - 10 other people) want to build a RepRap? If that's the case, shoot me an email and lets start hashing something out.

For all you Old-School RRWT heads, keep your eyes posted on my blog. I will be doing an in-depth walk through in updating your toolchain. And yes, a lot has changed (for the better too!).

DC WEEK is coming up! Are you in the area? Not sure what DC WEEK is all about. Check it out here!

I'll be there assisting the soon the be open Fab Lab DC (as well as representing RepRap in some capacity). If you're coming, let me know. It's always fun to put a face to a name!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Well, safe to say even with a hurricane, RRWT #0000000002 carried on with another 100% success/print rate. People came ready to build bots and many a bot was built! A big shout out and thanks goes out to the crew @ NextFab Studio for hosting us and letting us build through hurricane Irene. You guys are awesome! I hope we have a repeat course sometime in the near future

Another special thanks goes out to Jordan Miller and Chris Thompson of Hive76 hackerspace, without your time and dedication the class would not have happened. Thanks again, dudes!

Lastly, the most important folks, the students! Thanks for weathering the storm and my many mistakes throughout the build :P. Without you guys there would absolutely be no class. Thanks a lot for living on the bleeding edge and I hope you enjoy your new 3D printer.

So, you want a workshop for your hometown/city/hackerspace/whatever. Give me a shout out and we can work on making it happen. I'm willing to work with anyone, anywhere that 3d printers are wanted!

To get a glimpse of all the fun that unfolded during the workshop, feel free to visit NextFab Studio's Flickr stream.

So, what has been occupying me so much that its been a good few months since my last post? How about a change of jobs and a move across the country?! Yeah, I've left my post at Fab Lab Baltimore and the east coast for the mountains of the west! Where am I? Colorado!

I've recently been offered a position at a new 3D printer start up by the name of Aleph Objects, Inc., home of Lulzbot.com. Check us out for all your RepRap 3D printer needs!

If any of you are going to be at World Maker Faire NYC, I'll see you there! Until next time.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Well, sorry to the folks who signed up for the planned second stop of the RRWT in the McLean, VA area. Due to last minute logistics issues, the class had to be postponed until a future date and time (TBD).

In the meantime, the show must go on! So the next planned city is the great city of Philadelphia, PA. We will be hosted by the local fab lab, NextFab, who has graciously opened up their facilities and is allowing us to carry out our class on the premises. All the while working in conjunction with the native hackerpsace, Hive76, represented by Jordan Miller and Chris Thompson who are doing the work for promoting the event in the area.

Glimpse into the room in question, this is where all the building action will unfold. ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/whmchale/4310351527/)

So, for $1,200 and ~30 hours of building, you get your very own RepRap Prusa Mendel. This kit for the class isn't like any kit you can find on the internet anywhere. For one, we are using linear bearings (LM8UU flavor) instead of the printed PLA bushing or the brass bushing alternatives you may have seen when you were shopping around. More details on the specifics of the kits will be available shortly, just check back here often.

Any questions/concerns/inquiries/curiosities, please do not hesitate to contact me. My email address is ta.anderson.h@gmail.com. If you are a RepRapper in the general area and would like to volunteer your time to help others get in on the hobby, feel free to join in on the festivities! (Do email me as well)

Attached at the bottom is the promo flyer we have floating around the Philly area, take a look, it sums up all the knitty gritty details you'd need to get your piece of the AWESOME 3D printing future!

Pretty much the same bot you will end up building. Might have a bit more bells and whistles in the end though.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Well, seeing as the second build class has been post-poned, I guess I better find something else to talk about. How about we get back to the point of this blog? What have I been up to?

Well, I've been working on making machines that make more machines (or at least more things!). Current project on hand is the MTM (Machines that Make project from MIT) Snap. It is a small form factor mill cut from 1/2" HDPE. So why the name "Snap"? That is a result of the fastening mechanism of this machine. You won't find nuts and bolts holding this little baby together. What you will find is the following mechanism:

Yeah, its pretty much the same mechanism as a buckle. Pretty nifty and def one of those "Why didn't anyone do this SOONER?!" kinda ordeals. But yeah, I got most of it cut out and assembled, just waiting on a few more components and I should be ready to mill some PCB's! I'll post pics as things develop to a point where I want to show someone, until then, hold tight.

Nonetheless, you can find the knitty gritty details and specs of the machine (as well as maybe make your own?) here.

I'm def finding myself more and more intrigued by MIT's MTM Project, next target is going to be the super awesome FAB-in-A-BOX! One machine to do it all! Sounds good to me.

Also, for all you fab labbers that happened to still stay tuned to my rants, I have established a Fab Lab IRC channel (Freenode server), come and join. ATM, there is hardly anyone on it, let's fix that!